Italo Insolera

Italo Insolera (Turin, February 7, 1929 – Rome, August 27, 2012) was an Italian architect, urban and land planner, and historian.
He published several books and essays dealing with the economic, social and cultural circumstances and conditions of urban development, and the use of the ancient town in the framework of metropolitan development. These issues were also the primary focus of his professional and academic work, where restoration and planning of historical towns and environmental systems prevail. He was especially interested in the relationship between archaeology and the modern city; he proposed solutions for the correct (re)use of ancient towns that included traffic restriction, pedestrianization, and restoration. Some of these have been implemented by municipal governments, particularly in Rome.
Biography
Born in Turin in 1929, at age five he and his family moved to Rome. His father Filadelfo, a university teacher, ranked amongst the few who introduced the financial and actuarial science in Italy. His elder brother Delfino was editorial director at Zanichelli publisher in the 1970s and 1980s; his sister Melina, high-school teacher, wrote a number of grammar books (Italian, Latin and ancient Greek).
In 1953, Insolera graduated from La Sapienza University, Rome, with a degree in Architecture. He became a licensed architect in 1954, and qualified for university teaching in urbanism in 1960. Meanwhile, he had married Anna Maria Bozzola (architect, in the early 1960s was the author of a book series on arts education which became a reference in the freshly reformed Italian lower secondary school); she would be his partner during all his life. In 1962, he published Roma moderna. Un secolo di storia urbanistica (Modern Rome: A Century of Urban History), the first book dealing with urban planning and management in Rome from the unification of Italy to the present. The book has subsequently gone through six editions, with the most recent published in 2011.
He was added to the official register of land planners in 1971. From 1963 to 1971, he was a lecturer at Venice University's Institute of Architecture, and from 1971 to 1983 he was a tenured professor of Urban History at . He also taught courses and seminars at the universities of Rome, Florence, Naples, Paris, Kassel, Barcelona, Madrid.
During his tenure in Geneva, he founded and was for four years at the head of the Centre de Recherche sur la Rénovation Urbaine (Research Centre on Urban Renovation), sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Insolera also long played a leading role in numerous environmental battles over landscape conservation and protection, as well as urban architectural heritage protection and revitalization.
He died of natural causes at age 83 in his house in Monteverde, Rome at dawn on August 27, 2012. Italian urban planners deeply mourn his passing.
Since 2003, all of Insolera's professional documents, designs, photos and writings have been deemed of public interest and protected by the .
Planning
Regional Planning
1963 – 1964 Gargano Coast (Apulia)
1965 – 1966 Province of Teramo (Abruzzo)
1965 – 1970 Gallura (Sardinia), Coast and Hinterland
1968 – 1969 Province of Nuoro (Sardinia), Coast
1973 – 1976 Umbrian Apennines
1984 – 1992 Crotone (Calabria), Cape Colonna Archaeological Park
1982 – 1992 Parks in the municipalities of Suvereto, Campiglia Marittima, Piombino (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany), and Follonica (Province of Grosseto, Tuscany)
1985 Spatial and Landscape Plan (in Italian: "Piano Territoriale-paesistico") of Emilia-Romagna Region (pursuant to ).
Urban Planning
1956 Porto Empedocle (Province of Agrigento, Sicily), Reconstruction Plan
1957 Rivisondoli (Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo), Reconstruction Plan
1967 – 1972 Coordinated Plans for the communes of Cecina, Bibbona, Castagneto Carducci, San Vincenzo, Sassetta (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
1969 – 1970 Coordinated Building Programmes for the communes of Dorgali, Orosei, Siniscola (Province of Nuoro, Sardinia; joint work)
1973 – 1978 General Master Plan for the commune of Leghorn (Tuscany)
1988 – 1996 General Master Plan for the commune of Pitigliano (Province of Grosseto, Tuscany; joint work)
1989 – 1994 General Master Plan for the commune of Correggio (Province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna; joint work)
1997 – 1999 Structural Plan for Lucca (Tuscany, joint work).
Parks and Urban Districts
1957 :it:INA-Casa District (public housing) at Syracuse Santa Panagia (Sicily, joint work)
1958 :it:INA-Casa District (public housing) at Naples Soccavo (joint work)
1962 :it:INA-Casa District (public housing) at Caserta (Campania; joint work)
1971 - 1978 Public housing district at San Vincenzo (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
1980 - 1981 Special Plans (in Italian: "Piani Particolareggiati") for Castagneto Carducci (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
1982 - 1984 Plans for Productive Zones (tourist resorts; in Italian: PIP, "Piani per Insediamenti Produttivi") at Piombino (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
1988 Feasibility Plan for Gabii Archaeological Park (Rome; joint work)
1988 - 1989 Together with Leonardo Benevolo and , studies for Palermo’s historical core Special Plan (appointing body: the Municipality, Mayor Leoluca Orlando)
1996 Preliminaries to the Spatial Plan (in Italian: "Piano di Assetto") for the Archaeological Park of the Ancient Appian Way (Rome)
1997 Environmental Project for Rome's great ring road underpass to the Ancient Appian Way (ANAS, National Agency for Roads)
2000 Environmental and Landscape Study for it:Tormarancio area (Rome; joint work, appointing body: )
2005 Project for a Natural Park and Farm Restoration at San Vincenzo (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; appointing body: Rimigliano ltd; joint work).
Consultancies
1965 Ministry of Public Works (now Ministry for Infrastructure and Transports), Committee for provisions to be adopted on tree-lined roads in order to ensure traffic safety and natural values protection
1966 , Committee for study of pedestrian islands
1966-1969 Italian Automobile Club, Committee for traffic and circulation
1981-1982 Municipality of Naples, Commissionership for reconstruction subsequent to 1981 earthquake
1981-1982 Intergovernmental Programme Egypt-Italy, Feasibility study for restoration and reuse of Cairo Citadel
1981-1982 , Committee for study of issues related to establishment of the Archaeological Park in the city historical centre
1988-1990 Museum of Natural History of Leghorn Province, member of the Board of governors
1988-1992 Member of the National Council at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage
1990-1992 Province of Bologna, land planning
1994-1995 , Department for Mobility
1995-1996 ATAC (Municipal Company for Public Transport), Rome
Council of Europe, member of the Committees for restoration and reuse of the historical cores of Toledo (Spain, 1982), Salamanca (Spain, 1984), and Antigua Guatemala (Guatemala, 1997)
Council of Europe, general speaker at Ferrara (1978), Strasbourg (1982) and Lille (1983) conventions.
Architecture
1958-1964 Turin National Library (together with Massimo Amodei, Pasquale Carbonara, Aldo Livadiotti, Antonio Quistelli).
1958 Nursery School at Rivisondoli (Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo)
1959 Nursery School at Pescocostanzo (Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo)
2001 Studies for the Moses Memorial at Mount Nebo (Jordan)
2003 Plan for the Puccini Theatre at Torre del Lago (Viareggio, Tuscany; together with Mauro Ciampa, Raffaello Bartelletti).
Restoration works
1963-1965-1967 Houses in the centre of Anguillara Sabazia (Rome)
1971 House in the historical centre of Tropea (Calabria)
1980 House in the historical centre of Castagneto Carducci (Tuscany)
1978-1980 and 1993-1994 Ancient Roman houses at San Paolo alla Regola Street, Rome (joint work)
1990 Mullioned-windowed house (in Italian: “Casa delle Bifore”) at Piombino (Tuscany), hosting the Municipal Archives (joint work)
1990 St. Francis Cloister at Suvereto (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
1989-1992 Meucci Center at Suvereto (Tuscany; joint work): an ancient farmhouse to be reused as residence for maladjusted youths
1990-1995 Villa Poniatowski in Rome, preliminary project for reuse to host a section of Villa Giulia’s National Etruscan Museum and the Castellani Collection (ancient jewellery)
1991-1994 House on the Lake Maggiore (Piedmont)
1996 “La Pievaccia” Tower at Follonica (Province of Grosseto, Tuscany; joint work)
2000-2001 Poderi Stalloni at Suvereto (Tuscany): ancient farmhouses to be reused as hostels and function-room for Parchi Val di Cornia Inc. (joint work).
Exhibitions
1997: Via Appia-Sulle rovine della magnificenza antica (Appian Way – Amidst the ruins of the ancient splendour), Memmo Foundation, Ruspoli Palace, Rome; layout project
In collaboration with the Granet Museum, Aix-en-Provence (France):
1996: Paesaggi perduti-Granet a Roma 1802-1824 (Lost Landscapes – Granet in Rome 1802-1824), American Academy in Rome, Scientific Committee
2000: Alla ricerca della luce-I pittori di Aix-en-Provence dal XVIII al XX Secolo (Searching for Light – The Painters from Aix-en-Provence from 18th to 20th Centuries), Municipality of Perugia, Palace of Penna; curator of both exhibition and catalogue
2000-2001: Frondose arcate. Il Colosseo prima dell'archeologia (Leafy Arcades – The Coliseum before Archaeology) Altemps Palace, project, layout and catalogue
2002-2003: Roma tra le due guerre (Rome between the two Wars), Museo di Roma in Trastevere and House of Architecture, Rome; project and layout (with A.M. Sette)
2002-2003: Dall'Augusteo all'Auditorium (From the Augusteum to the Auditorium), for the opening of the new Auditorium “Parco della Musica”, Rome; project, layout and catalogue (with A.M. Sette).
Competitions & Competitive Examinations
1955 Spatial layout of the “Valletta di Belfiore” area, Mantua (Lombardy; joint work): 1st prize equal
1955 Establishment of designers-architects teams for :it:INA-Casa (public housing programme): qualified
1957 Venice (in Italian: “Piano Regolatore Generale”; joint work)
1957 Turin National Library (joint work): 1st prize equal; realized
1958 Applications of “Plastirivmel” (plastic elements for use in interior design), 4th Competition: 2nd prize, realized
1964 Setting up of registers of designers-architects for :it:Gescal (public housing programme): qualified
1965 Selection of ISES (public housing) designers-architects: qualified
1967 Extension to the House of Parliament, Rome
1971 New headquarters for the University of Florence (joint work): 2nd prize
1982 Restoration of Piombino Castle (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
2003 Puccini Theatre at Torre del Lago, Viareggio (Tuscany): winner.
Bibliography
Books
Roma moderna. Un secolo di storia urbanistica (Modern Rome. A Century of Urban History), Torino, Einaudi, 1962-1993-2001, .
Il quartiere barocco di Roma (The Baroque District of Rome), Roma, Ed. LEA, 1967 (with Italo Zannier)
Coste d'Italia, Roma, ENI, 1967-1971, 5 volumes (joint work)
Monti d'Italia (Mounts of Italy), Roma, ENI, 1972-1975, 4 volumes (joint work)
Città di Torino, La collina di Torino (The Hills of Turin), Padova, Marsilio, 1972 (joint work).
L'urbanistica, in "Storia d'Italia" (Urban Planning, in ), Torino, Einaudi, 1973
La città e la crisi del capitalismo (The Cities and the Crisis of Capitalism), Roma, it:Ed. Laterza, 1978 (joint work)
Roma. Immagini e realtà dal X al XX secolo (Rome: Images and Reality from 10th to 20th Centuries), it:Ed. Laterza, 1980,
Parchi naturali: l'esperienza di Rimigliano, Roma, Edizioni delle Autonomie, 1982 (with Luigi Gazzola)
Storia moderna dei Fori di Roma (Modern History of Rome's Forums), Roma, it:Ed. Laterza, 1983 (with Francesco Perego), .
L'EUR e Roma dagli anni Trenta al Duemila (The EUR and Rome from the 1930s to 2000), Roma, it:Ed. Laterza, 1986 (with :it:Luigi Di Majo), .
Roma (Rome), Touring Club of Italy, 1986 (joint work), .
La villa Huffer, una dimora romana dell'Ottocento (The Huffer Villa: a 19th Century Roman Mansion), Roma, Istituto Italiano di Credito Fondiario, 1991 (joint work)
In via delle Muratte. Un edificio e l'intorno nella storia di Roma (Down Muratte Street: a Building and its Neighbourhood in the History of Rome), Roma, Ed. Mediocredito di Roma, 1993 (joint work)
Roma e il Giubileo del secondo Millennio (Rome and the Second Millennium Jubilee), Roma, Ed. Mediocredito di Roma, 1995 (joint work)
Paesaggi perduti, Granet a Roma 1802 – 1824, American Academy in Rome (Lost Landscapes – Granet in Rome 1802-1824, American Academy in Rome), Roma, Electa, 1996 (contribution to the catalogue), .
Via Appia, Sulle ruine della magnificenza antica (Appian Way – Amidst the ruins of the ancient splendour), Roma, Leonardo Arte, 1997 (catalogue of the exhibition; joint work), .
Frondose arcate, Il Colosseo prima dell'archeologia (Leafy Arcades – The Coliseum before Archaeology), Roma, Electa, 2000 (catalogue of the exhibition; joint work), .
Roma fascista attraverso la documentazione dell'Istituto Luce (Fascist Rome in the Istituto Luce’s Documents), Roma, :it:Editori Riuniti, 2001, .
Roma tra le due guerre. Cronache da una città che cambia (Rome between the Two Wars, Chronicles from a Changing City), Roma, Palombi Editore, 2003 (with Alessandra Maria Sette), .
Dall'Augusteo all'Auditorium (From the Augusteum to the Auditorium), Roma, Ed. Musica per Roma, Collana dell’Auditorium no. 1, 2003 (with Alessandra Maria Sette), .
L'occhio e la memoria: Porto Empedocle 1950 (The Eye and Memory: Porto Empedocle 1950), Roma, Palombi Editore, 2007 (with Andrea Camilleri), .
Saper vedere l'ambiente (Getting to Know how to Look at the Environment), Roma, De Luca Edizioni d’Arte, 2008, .
Avanti c'è posto (Move on, there's room ahead!), Roma, :it:Donzelli Editore, 2008 (with :it:Walter Tocci and Domitilla Morandi), .
Roma, per esempio. Le città e l'urbanista (Rome, for example. The cities and the urban planner), Roma, :it:Donzelli Editore, 2010, .
Roma moderna. Da Napoleone I al XXI secolo (Modern Rome. From Napoleon I to 21st Century), Torino, Einaudi, 2011 (New edition expanded with the collaboration of :it:Paolo Berdini), .
Modern Rome: From Napoleon to the Twenty-First Century, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021 (First English paperback edition, based on the above; editors Lucia Bozzola, Roberto Einaudi and Marco Zumaglini), .
The Centre de recherche sur la rénovation urbaine (Research Centre on Urban Renovation) published: Atlas du territoire genevois – Permanences et modifications cadastrales aux XIXe et XXe Siècles (Atlas of Geneva Territory, Cadastral Permanencies and Modifications during 19th and 20th Centuries), 7 volumes, Genève, Georg Ed., 1983-1998 (foreword by A.Corboz).
Journals and Newspapers
Articles published on: Ferrania, Architettura, Urbanistica, Comunità, Casabella, Zodiac, Architèse, Werk, Centro Sociale, Ulisse, Paese Sera, Il Messaggero, Il Manifesto, La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera.
Radio and TV Collaborations
RAI, Italian State Radio-television
RTS, Radio-television of French-Switzerland.
Awards
Aldo Della Rocca Foundation Award, 1954.
INARCH Award for Historical Criticism, 1964.
Cervia Award, 1970.
Italian Fund for the Environment (FAI) Award, 2008.
Writings on Italo Insolera
Elisabetta Reale, Archivi Italo Insolera e Ignazio Guidi (the Archives Italo Insolera and Ignazio Guidi), sheet on "AAA Italia. Bollettino n.9/2010", p. 31-33, May 2010.
Alessandra Valentinelli et al., Italo Insolera fotografo (Italo Insolera photographer), Roma, Palombi Editore, 2017, ; the exhibition held at Museo di Roma in Trastevere (11 May-3 September 2017), at Palazzo Gravina, Faculty of Architecture, Naples (5-19 November 2018) and at Polo del '900, Turin (17 September-18 October 2020).
Notes
Links
INU - Italian Institute for Urban Planning (in Italian)
FAI – Italian Fund for the Environment (in Italian and English)
YouTube - Italo Insolera Speaks about Rome’s Late Urban Development (1962; in Italian)
RaiScuola - Italo Insolera Speaks about Rome’s Fascist Architecture (1991; in Italian)
International Society of City & Regional Planners (multilingual)
Italo Insolera’s and Paolo Berdini’s Modern Rome on RAI Art Portal (in Italian)
References
This article closely derives from the original Italian page, which was written with the substantial contribution of Insolera himself.
1929 births
2012 deaths
20th-century Italian historians
20th-century Italian architects
Italian urban planners
21st-century Italian historians
Historians of urban planning
Italian essayists
Academic staff of the University of Geneva
Urban planning
Male essayists
20th-century essayists
20th-century Italian male writers
Italian male non-fiction writers